Traction Control

[batty_123]

Hey guys, i bought my car and soon as i got it i had an RACQ full inspection done to it so i could take advantage of my dealership warranty (only stat warranty but hey 3months warranty cant go to waste lol)

Well my ride is a 2000 S2 acclaim, and on the report it has traction control not working. When i start car "Low Trac" lights up and goes off. but anyway ive had a few acceleration dillemas and in a number of mechanics/dealers they have said straight out traction control (without me even mentioning the trac control not functioning)

So i dont know anythin bout the trac control but yeah how much does it cost to fix up/get new one or something i dunno??

Cheers in advance

[ACEMonkey]

The ABS and Traction controls is an integral unit located in your engine bay. The electronic part costs around $600 and you can quite easily remove and drop in a new unit...but check your traction control sensors are working first before you drop in the unit as it could be the traction control mechanism itself that is playing up.

[keza87]

I would have thought if the traction control didn't work the ABS wouldn't work correctly either as they use the same sensors.

It is normal for the traction control lights to come on at start up and then go out.

Please don't flame me for this but have you actually tested out the system like trying to spin the wheels on grass somewhere on private property? Try it with traction on and then try it with traction off. Also try doing test on the ABS on a back street somewhere.

I would have thought if the traction control didn't work the traction off light would be on along with the ABS. I may be mistaken though.

[batty_123]

yeah tried, wheels do not spin... soon as i floor the car it loses all power in the ass end of the car and misfires sorta thing....

and i press the trac control button and no light comes on or off... and on the RACQ report they put "traction control not working" so yeah

well what else could be causing my acccelration problem?? ive got a pair of heavy duty leads and ill get some heavy duty plugs and muck around with the gap maybe that will help??

or dyno it??

suggestions?

[batty_123]

also (this is only my first car im only a young one) my dad wants to know what exactly does trac control do??

[ACEMonkey]

Traction control and ABS does use the same sensors and even though they are the same module (for some models), both have quite different functions that are independent of each other. There is ABS lamp when your ABS is deactivated, and there is a Traction lamp when it is either in low traction situation or Traction control is overridden to off.

The idea of traction control is to compensate for the differring wheel speeds (usually the drive wheels, which for out commies, the rear wheels) under heavy acceleration, cornering and wet surfaces that would otherwise cause your car to spin out of control. To do this the traction control over-rules your acceleration pedal by removing acceleration to your drive wheels and allowing enough time for the wheel speeds to reach within acceptable limits, thereby regaining traction between your tyre and the road surface.

ABS on the other hand works under heavy braking. When the ABS module detects a sudden deceleration of your wheel spin, it indicates that your brakes are locked onto the rotor, which is where the ABS kicks in by releasing your brake pad-rotor contact and very rapidly pumping the brakes to allow your wheels to regain some traction as you brake. This is why when you're perfoming an emergency braking procedure in a car thats fitted with ABS, you slam your foot on the pedal and keep it there, never pump your brakes because the ABS does that for you automatically.

Your car will test the ABS and Traction control everytime you put your key into the ignition and start. By default, both ABS and Traction Control is reset to ON everytime you restart your car. This is just a pre-programmed safety feature of your car. The lamps for both should come on initially, then go off once your car has started if everything is ok. Those lamps will only stay on if there is a problem or you've switched off the function. If those lamps don't come on when you start the car, then its probably just a blown bulb on your dash, quite easy and cheap to replace.

Hope that explains it for you.

[chargedvx6]

Blown bulb or fuse. Or the wheel speed sensor which costs $25 from Holden and takes 5 minutes to fit. If the fuse and bulb is good I would try spraying some brake cleaner on the sensor face to give it a clean.

Have you had a trouble code scan done by the dealer? Their comp will tell exactly where the problem is.

[keza87]

Sounds like the traction control is working then if it doesn't spin and sounds like backfiring. When you press the traction control button the TRAC OFF light should illuminate. If it does illuminate during start up then it may be a faulty switch or it has been un-plugged.
Not sure how the wires are run in an auto though.

[chargedvx6]

Good point, when the T/C is on there is no light on the dash, it only lights up when T/C is off so most likely everything is good but there's an intermittent wheel speed sensor fault. I've had this numerous times and when I clean it the fault goes way for 6 months or so. Too much brake dust in there

[commsirac]

One thing to consider is that the traction control is inoperative until it warms up......says so in the owners manual. I was caught out by this when my car get stuck on some slippery ground recently and the traction control didnt appear to be doing anything.....but it was because the motor was cold.

[batty_123]

hmm yeah its all very weird.. the appears for a few secs on start up and goes out... if i press the button no lights or anything come on...

also i was told that this is why my car has an acceleration problem caue of my t/c not functioning properly... soon as i give a bit of heavy gas on a take off it jus dies in the ass end and loses complete power and sounds so bad lol

i dont know.. but yeah you guys hav all helped and im going to have to just go by process of elimination now i guess ay..

thanks alot guys real help

[Rukas666]

Hi guys, i have an intermittent fault on my trac control. Sometimes it turns its self off and will only reset if I restart the car. Any ideas?

Thanks

[Jesterarts]

Got some more details? Does it happen completely randomly or under certain circumstances?

I'm assuming that once it deactivates, the button does nothing when you press it?

But firstly, this fault is on a VX Monaro right? Manual or auto?

http://www.ls1.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=72970

Point 3 of the above thread.

Apparently a faulty ABS sensor can contribute to this issue.

[Rukas666]

Thanks for the info. That link was helpful. Yeah its a manual. Also yes, the button doesn't do crap once the light comes on. It seems to occur at random. Its happened a few times previous but not for over six months! Although i did give it a wash the day before yesterday. I reckon it'll be the ABS sensor - the symptoms seem to match anyways. Still spewing but, someones looking to buy it tomorrow. Guess I'll have to can that.

Thanks a heap.